An unexpected stop and a decision to make.

Beware, this is a long post.

So if we're supposed to be sailing, why is our Knotty Cat out of the water?

Because two nights ago we discovered a leak in our starboard engine room.

A big leak.

And of course we found it only after dropping our anchor in a very remote part of the Intracoastal about 15 miles past Georgetown.

We had made such good progress, and for once the currents worked with us and we actually motored along at 8-9 knots for quite a while.

The anchorage was beautiful and the sky had gone pink as the sun was just setting. I was going to use the grill and make dinner and we were looking forward to a relaxing evening when we realized the starboard bilge pump was dumping out water about every 30 seconds.

One look in the engine room and we knew we had to weigh anchor and get the hell out of there. Water was streaming steadily from where the propeller shaft enters/exits the boat and our batteries would never be able to handle the load of the bilge pump running all night and we don't have a generator.

I wanted to head back to Georgetown but Hans wanted to forge ahead. We called Leland's Marina in McClellanville (15 miles south of us) and he said we could tie up there for the night.

Thus began one of the most nerve wracking three hours I have ever endured.

The sun set shortly after we got underway and even though we had clear skies and a crescent moon we had to rely almost totally on the MapQuest disc on my computer (remember Fritz our GPS has been surly lately and would prefer to show us on land half the time).

Why this couldn't have happened on one of those stretches of water with all the houses and a lot of light is beyond me and we found ourselves navigating through the most desolate swampland you can imagine. The water was completely still which caused the tree line to reflect in a mirror like fashion from the shore and made us feel like we were going to run aground at any second.

Markers were few and far between and the unlit ones were a bear to spot. I would run up front and frantically wave a flashlight and feel immense relief when I would finally find it.

We knew from my computer that we were approaching a green marker but I couldn't see it at all. I was leaning over the bow with my light when I finally spotted a stick in the water just in front of us. It was my marker but the green reflective square was missing.

Everything became one dimensional and distance was impossible to judge. We would see flashing red lights ahead of us that would scare the bejeebers out of us because we were supposed to see flashing green. Then we would realize that the red lights were from towers miles away from us.

Three hours later we arrived at the creek to the marina and then came part two of our adventure. Jutting out from both sides were many unlit docks, my flashlight couldn't pick them out at the same time, and there was a bend in the creek. I was literally screaming PORT! and STARBOARD! back to Hans and he still couldn't hear me over our engines.

After barely missing a couple of docks we finally arrived at the marina only to find someone had tied a boat up to our spot and there was no space available anywhere.

That's when I almost started crying.

We got lucky though when we spotted a couple of guys sitting in a shrimping boat and they went up to a building that looked like a speak easy from the twenties, rousted the owner of the squatter and made him move his boat.

They also helped tie us up and then even came on board to have a look at our problem. Two hours later Mike and Eric left. They ended up stuffing tea towels, one of my cute pot holders, and a piece of our flag pole into the shaft area and slowed the leak to the point where our bilge only went of every few minutes.

I guess Fritz finally got his wish because The Knotty Cat is now on the hard at the Charleston City Boat Yard way up in the Wando River and we're wondering how the hell bolts on the plate that hold the propeller to the boat are loose and/or missing. Also a couple of bolts that hold the cutters in place were sheared off.

I'm not really smiling, I'm just insane.

You can see where a bolt is missing at the bottom of that plate and the loose bolt at the top.

The bolt on the bottom of the port side plate is loose.

Also, after two weeks in the water our zincs were ready to fall off. The problem was not corrosion (we had a galvanic isolator installed this summer) but the fact that they were improperly installed.

A lot of work needs to be done (parts ordered or retooled) and if it's going to take too long, we'll be calling this trip quits and going home. That means the Knotty Cat would winter in Charleston. I think she's always wanted to be a southern belle.

Happy Halloween from the Knotty Cat

This is the first year we haven't dressed up for Halloween so I'll post last years picture. I made our costumes and I'm glad Hans is such a good sport.

He became Helga the German Barmaid and was quite a hit.










I've decided to start calling ourselves Dumb and Dumber. We jumped into the Intracoastal yesterday and never really gave a lot of thought to the bridges and I didn't even realize we had a lock to negotiate.


Like I said; Dumb and Dumber.


Luckily the lock only dropped 8 inches which was a relief because we went through a lock in Pittsburgh (while on a friend's motor boat) and it had about an 8-10 foot drop. I was just worried that our dock lines wouldn't be long enough to reach up and back down.

Since the bridges stop operating at 7 PM we realized we'd better figure out where we were going to stop for the night as you don't just drop anchor in the middle on the waterway. We lucked out and found one spot available just before the Great Bridge and with the help of the captains of the boats we'd be squeezing in between, Hans did his usual good job of parallel parking.


I know people raft up in these areas if they have to but I'm not a 'rafting up' kind of person.


One couple is from England and they've sailed all over the world and have also been up and down the Intracoastal several times. I'm very glad we talked to them because they warned us not to cross Albemarle Sound if the forecast isn't favorable. I looked in our Cruising Guide and it says that the Albemarle can really beat you up and not to enter it if the winds are over 20 knots. I could feel my chest constrict and was almost in tears and I told Hans I couldn't take another trip like we had the other night and to not even think about sailing in it if the conditions aren't right.

Just in case you think we're wimps, we've heard all kinds of talk about how awful the Chesapeake was the other night and the Englishman said he too was surprised at the 3-5 foot seas.

I left my camera charger at the apartment (Dumb!) and now have to rely on Hans' Blackberry. It actually takes pretty nice pictures.

This isn't the best shot but anyway you can see us as we all follow each other.

I feel just like a pioneer on a wagon train but instead of heading west and slapping at Indians with my sunbonnet, we're heading south where you fight off today's savages by throwing packs of cigarettes at them.

I don't expect to be running into any pirates though even though some people, whom we've talked to about our trip, think that every body of water is teeming with them.

After tying up at the Great Bridge we walked to a local bar for a beer. We like to support the local economy.

Wilbur may not be with us but he did leave us a reminder from the last trip so we wouldn't forget him.

We decided to play Scrabble last night (with no shore power we have to conserve our batteries so we turn on one light and pile on the blankets), and when I dug out the tiles I found these.

At first we thought they had a weak spot and just split but each one has been nibbled and there are tiny little Wilbur teeth marks on them. We don't have mice or the box would have shown signs of them.

But honestly! Notice that he chewed the D and G! There are tons of E's, A's, T's, etc... so how did he happen to pick such uncommon letters? Because he's smart that's why, and I'm sure he was zeroing in on the O when he was interrupted.

Hans was mesmerized by the Aircraft Carriers in Norfolk and he took this picture.

He'll be happy to see that I've posted it for him.

We left the Great Bridge at 8 AM this morning and will finish in Coinjock this afternoon. Coinjock is the last stop before the Albemarle and so far it appears the weather for tomorrow should be favorable for us to cross.

We'll see.